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Island City Baking, which was founded in 1990, is a manufacturer of fresh and frozen artisan breads. It operates out of a 45,000 square foot production facility located in Richmond, BC and services retail and foodservice customers across southern BC.

Conte Foods, which was founded in 1993, is a distributor of a variety of specialty food products including items imported from various parts of Europe and fresh pasta produced at its new 16,000 square foot facility located in Burnaby, BC. Island City and Conte Foods, on a combined basis, have annual sales of approximately $20 million.

"We are very pleased to welcome Carmelo De Luca, President of Island City, An Nguyen, Senior VP Operations of Island City and the rest of their team to Premium Brands,” said. George Paleologou, President and CEO of Premium Brands. “Both Island City and Conte Foods have built strong reputations for manufacturing great high quality products and providing exceptional service to their customers. Furthermore, the dynamic and entrepreneurial cultures that Carmelo and An have developed at Island City and Conte Foods make these businesses a perfect fit with Premium Brands.”

In a separate transaction, Premium Brands also announced the acquisition of the business and assets of Larosa Fine Foods, a manufacturer and wholesaler of a variety of specialty Italian products. Larosa, which has annual sales of approximately $4 million and is currently based in Vancouver, BC, will be moving its operations into Conte Foods’ Burnaby facility.

“We are very excited about the opportunities that will result from the merger of Conte Foods and Lasosa,” said Paleologou. “The new combined business, which will be under the leadership of Carmelo De Luca, will position us well in a fast growing, niche segment of the specialty food space. Furthermore, we expect to accelerate its growth by enabling it to leverage Premium Brands’ resources including our extensive sales and marketing infrastructure in Canada and the U.S.”

“Both An and I are very excited about joining Premium Brands,” said De Luca. “We have followed the company for many years and have no doubt that it is the right partner for Island City and Conte Foods and that it will help us take both businesses to the next level in their development. We also take great comfort in knowing that Premium Brands has a reputation for being a respectful and supportive acquirer and that our employees are in good hands.”

The purchase price for Island City and Conte Foods was $20.3 million. The purchase price for Larosa was $0.7 million in cash.